Emotionally Illogical
by thisislogical
Summary: Uhura is an exceptional student. Any Commander would immediately see that. Spock is an exceptional teacher. But not many cadets see that. This is the story of Nyota and Spock while she was a cadet at the Academy. N.Uhura/Spock
1. Chapter 1

_**A.N. Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic for Star Trek and I must admit, I am somewhat new/late to the fan base. I did my research and watched the movie oh, say, 20 times? So I think I'm pretty accurate in everything I wrote. If you find anything that is incorrect, please feel free to leave a review or send me a p.m., I'm all for critique! **_

_**This is somewhat AU, as it is before the movie. Again, not much information to go on here, so there may be some things I change. Minor things, I promise. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek. If I did, I would certainly not be writing this. Or maybe I would. Who knows.**_

Emotions.

They dictate almost every action we make, every thought that passes through our minds. When a word is spoken, it has an emotional connotation to it. It can be spoken in anger, sadness, happiness, or joy. Emotions have their advantages. Love, for instance, is an emotion that is welcomed and, in fact, desired.

Vulcans do not show emotion.

It is a disgrace to show what one is feeling in the Vulcan culture. Logic is all that matters, and emotional responses are considered illogical. Love is even passed over, instead replaced with a logical mating process.

Vulcans do, however, _feel._

The emotions hidden deep within a Vulcan are stronger than what humans feel. Before their race turned to logic, they allowed their emotions to control them. In doing so, they became savage. The only logical response to such a problem was to eradicate these emotional responses and listen only to one's mind.

Spock is half human.

This is a fact that he has been reminded of his whole life. When he was growing up, his peers would often remark that his eyes betrayed him and showed the emotions he, as a hybrid, wanted to show. They had not been entirely wrong. Learning the Vulcan way of life had allowed Spock to conceal his emotional responses and facial reactions. In this he was very proficient. However, his eyes did show a minimal amount of emotion. It would be unnoticeable to a human, but to a Vulcan, Spock's eyes were an open book, and he suffered for it.

Controlling one's emotions is difficult. Vulcans use the power of logic and meditation, using their mind to repress the feelings that long to burst forth. Spock saw his emotion in his mind mathematically. He looked upon his emotions logically and practically. He did not allow himself to feel them.

Upon looking into his mind at any one time, he could see that, if he were a human, his amount of happiness would be larger than that of sadness. Or possibly confusion would rule his mind. If he were human, that is. But to be human was to be inferior. And Spock would not allow himself to feel these emotions that were in his mind. He could not allow himself to fall that far, to break. It was illogical.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

A Logical Human

Nyota Uhura was a logical human. She used her mind to its fullest and spent most of her time attempting to advance her knowledge of the universe. Wanting to advance in knowledge as well as rank was why she was in the Linguistics Lab of Starfleet Academy late on a Friday night instead of with her Orion roommate Gaila at the closest bar.

Her ear piece was rattling off words in an ancient Romulan dialect and Nyota quietly recited them to herself in a hushed voice, despite the fact that she was alone in the lab. Her major, Xenolinguistics, required her to take several language classes. As well as completing the work for those classes, she had begun teaching herself various other languages and dialects.

Content that she had mastered the lesson she would be learning tomorrow in class, Nyota packed up her books and PADD and rose from her seat at the far end of the room. The semester was almost complete and there would be only a limited number of actual class days before final exams. Her coursework was complete, having finished more classes than was completely necessary. She was set on taking Advanced Phonology next semester, and her pre-requisites were completed.

As she stood and pushed in her chair, she nodded her head to the Commander in charge of watching over the lab until it closed.

"Cadet," he responded with a slight nod.

This particular Commander had caught Nyota's attention lately. She knew, of course, that if she were to take Advanced Phonology next semester, he would be the teacher. Every cadet who had ever taken one of his classes complained that the workload was unbearable and the classes were boring and difficult. This did not deter her in the slightest- in fact, it stirred her curiosity.

"Commander." Her reply was short as she passed him.

She had often thought that her fellow classmates were hard on him because of his seeming coldness towards everyone. In her mind, that was very prejudice. He was not, after all, human. One could not expect him to act as such. If he was a good teacher and knew what he was talking about, there was no reason to detest him. She would have to make her own decision when she had Commander Spock as a teacher.

Spock stood in the Linguistics Lab, waiting for 1900 to arrive so that he could close the lab. Only one student remained, and he could hear her muttering to herself in Romulan. Occasionally she would switch to another language to hear the difference in sound.

He knew this cadet. Uhura, her name was. An impressive academic record, if he remembered correctly. She had signed up for his Advanced Phonology class, and was one of the only cadets from her year that had been accepted, though she was unaware of that fact at the moment.

She was fluent in 13 languages and at least 2 dialects of each, including his own. Not many cadets came to the Academy with a knowledge of the Vulcan language let alone his own dialect. She had not learned it at the Academy as he discovered after looking through her records.

An impressive student indeed.

**Next Semester**

Nyota gathered her PADDs for class while attempting to ignore her roommate's description of the new guy she was seeing. By the next week he would be history. Starfleet Academy was full of obnoxious males, and her Orion friend could attract them all. But Nyota wasn't interested in this new beau, as she was five minutes away from being late for Advanced Phonology.

While Gaila chattered on about her previous night, Nyota slipped on her red cadet uniform and standard boots. Glancing at the time, she swore under her breath. If they didn't leave then, they would be late. She grabbed her PADDS and Gaila's arm as she rushed out the door and down the three flights of stairs towards the Linguistics Building.

They arrived in class at the same time the Commander did, receiving worried glances from the other students. There weren't many. It seemed that Gaila was the only other girl in her year that had been accepted into the class. To her dismay, cadet Kirk was the only boy from her year there. He flashed her a smile and pointed to a seat near him in the back. Gaila began to walk toward him.

"Oh no you don't." Nyota grabbed her friend's arm and marched them toward the front and center of the classroom.

They sat down, and the lecture began.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A.N. I just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful reaction to the beginning of my story! Thank you to everyone who favorite, followed, and reviewed! It means so much to me. Just to add on to that, reviews are love. So please send them (: **_

Chapter 2

Understanding, Not Just Listening

The next hour found Nyota barely aware of her surroundings. All that she was paying attention to was Commander Spock and the languages that he was speaking. She knew most, if not all, of them, but had never heard the foreign tongues spoken so beautifully.

When it came time to leave, she had to force herself to stand up and walk out the door.

. . .

Spock noticed the young cadet as he marched into his classroom. She was not technically late, with 2.1 seconds to spare; therefore there was no reason to reprimand her.

To his surprise, she pulled her rather disappointed looking friend to the two seats that were left front and center. He began his lecture and noticed that his eyes would stray back to a certain cadet in the front row throughout his whole lecture.

He studied her and found that although she was rather aesthetically pleasing, there was no reason for him to continue to look in her direction so frequently. Therefore, he attempted to stop, but found it difficult.

Only when he sat meditating in his room that night did he realize why he had been so fixated on the cadet: she was actually listening to him and not just the information. But paying attention to something so small was pointless and illogical.

. . .

Nyota jumped when her alarm rang the next day. Groaning, she sat up and ordered the lights to turn on. Gaila shot her a look and said "Lights out" rather forcefully.

Laughing Nyota sat up and turned the lights on manually, responding to her disgruntled roommate's glare. "We have to get ready, remember? Simulation today."

"So? I can be ready in time even if I choose to sleep another half hour."

Nyota chucked a pillow at her friend. There was no way on earth that Gaila would be ready in time if she didn't get up now. It was a reoccurring incident, but this wasn't just a class she would be late for, it was a test. A major test of their skills so far.

As they walked toward the mess hall, she heard someone coming up behind them.

"Hey Gaila! Uhura! Wait up."

Nyota let out a muffled groan as she realized who was coming up behind her.

"Jim!" Gaila responded happily, turning so that she could give him a somewhat chaste kiss. It looked like Jim was her new boy of the week.

"Cadet Kirk." She nodded her head slightly before stalking off. Food wasn't really necessary, and she had eaten something before leaving anyway.

The simulation was at 0900, and the team she was assigned to was to meet at a transportation center five minutes before they left. They would be accompanied by two Commanders who would test them and review their responses. The team had yet to find out what exactly they would be doing, but it was going to be difficult, that was for sure.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A.N. Sorry it took a while to write this. Thank you for all the follows and reviews, it's nice that you guys are so supportive! **_

Chapter 3

Conversing in Vulcan

Nyota hurried across the lawn towards the transportation center. It was 0830 and she was anxious for her simulation. Being late was not an option, so she decided early was a good choice instead. Before she arrived at her destination, Gaila bounded over, excited and bursting with news.

"What boy are you going to tell me about now Gaila? I have to hurry."

"You do not, you've got a good 20 minutes before you have to be anywhere." Her Orion friend pouted at her before relenting and answering the question. "It's Jim! I've got a date with him tonight. We're going to that bar near the entrance to the Academy. The closer to our dorms the better, right?"

"Gaila…this didn't work last time."

"I know. It's not like we're serious or anything. Relax. Anyway, go ahead and get to your simulation. Good luuuuck!" And with that, she skipped back the way she had come from.

Spock was sitting on one of the many benches placed at different areas on the grounds of the Academy. He saw Cadet Uhura pass him, and he saw her friend approach her. After observing their short conversation, he wondered as to the varying expressions on both of their faces. Was it not customary to be happy when one's friend was happy? Was that not how humans functioned? Unable to give up the chance to satisfy his curiosity, Spock stood up, straightened his shirt, and walked toward the cadet.

"Hello Commander." Nyota stood at attention as her instructor approached her, curious as to his presence there.

"At ease cadet. I was simply coming to ask you a query." Though his words held no inflection, Nyota assumed he was asking permission to ask his question.

"What was your question sir?"

"I was observing your interaction with your fellow classmate and, as I am continually learning about human reactions and social etiquette, wondered why you exhibited signs of frustration when she exhibited signs of excitement."

"Sir, I'm not positive I can explain that. Did you hear what she said?" Nyota was attempting to control her annoyance at his question. Who was he to ask about her personal life? Gaila's interest in Kirk was none of his business. But at the same time, she knew he really didn't care about Gaila and Kirk, he was simply trying to understand humans.

"I am not in the habit of listening to my student's conversations, cadet." Spock raised an eyebrow, surprised that she would insinuate that he had been eavesdropping.

"I was not implying that you were purposely listening, I was just wondering whether you, being a Vulcan and therefore having better hearing than humans, might have overheard the conversation without meaning to."

"I see. Forgive me for my misunderstanding."

"You're forgiven." Nyota stood for a moment with her arms crossed over her chest before coming up with a good way to explain her and Gaila's conversation. Dropping her hands to her sides, she explained, "Gaila was telling me about her, um, boyfriend. She likes him, but I know him and I know that he's not good for her. She's already, uh, dated him and he left her for another girl. It hurt her, and I don't want it to happen again. She was excited to be seeing him again, and I was annoyed that he was seeing her again. I don't have a very high opinion of him as it is."

"Her behavior is illogical, is it not?"

"Yes, I suppose it is," Nyota replied, the question in her mind coming out in her statement.

"Then therefore it is logical for you to disapprove of her decision. I understand this now. Thank you for your assistance." Spock nodded his head in understanding or gratitude, Nyota couldn't decide which.

"You're welcome Commander. If I may ask, why are you at the transportation center?" she had noticed his presence earlier and had thought little of it, but it dawned on her that he would have to be going somewhere.

"My presence has been requested on a simulation for today. I was told you are one of the cadets being tested, are you not?"

Nyota smiled at him, knowing that her section of the test would be challenging yet passable if he were there. She was fluent in all of the dialects he taught, and therefore was able to converse with him, even in his own dialect, which she had been speaking for the last few minutes. It had surprised her when he addressed her in Vulcan, but she supposed it was simply because he knew she would be able to answer. "I am," she responded in Standard, simply to gauge his reaction.

Spock's eyes widened minutely as he realized that he had been speaking Vulcan whilst talking to the cadet. He had not even realized…and she had responded correctly in everything she said. To his relief, the cadet did not seem to notice his reaction, and he replied, "Then we should continue on to join the group."

As they walked toward the rest of the cadets who would taking the simulation, Nyota tried to hide a smile. She had surprised the Commander, and that was a feat in and of itself.


End file.
